"A concerned mother of a seventh-grade student at Rogers Middle School is ready to keep her daughter out of school for weeks to keep her safe," Ed Doney reports for KFOR. "Claudia Morrison said Tuesday she’s even willing to give up guardianship to a relative, just so her daughter can go to a school in a different district." (Yes, there's a black market in school choice.)

[Morrison] said her daughter was beaten up twice on Sept. 5 by the same girl on the Rogers Middle School grounds.

Friday, September 14, 2012

I'm with Andrew Coulson on this one: If we should only count "current" or "operating" expenditures -- if costs like construction and debt service don't really count -- well then, okay, we'd like that money back.

The state's largest newspaper perceptively points out that, "ironically, many who complain about state funding have actually opposed programs that increase per-pupil amounts."

A scholarship program for children with special-needs allows those students to use most of the state funds allocated for their education to pay for private school. A portion remains with the public school, however, boosting district funds. Citizens can get tax credits for contributing to scholarship organizations that help low-income children attend private schools. As private funds allow those students to exit the public system, the tax dollars allotted for their education remains with public schools, benefiting other students. Yet both those programs have been opposed by some officials who simultaneously decry funding cuts.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The root educational problem is that public schools are government schools, and politics—which cannot be detached from government—rewards concentrated special interests, of which unionized teachers are among the biggest.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

"A 10-year-old boy reported he was stabbed by a fellow student with a pair of scissors while riding a bus to school," Carrie Coppernoll reports in The Oklahoman.

The student said he was stabbed in the shoulder by a female
student while they were riding to school Aug. 16, according to a police
report. They attend Green Pastures Elementary School, 4300 N Post Road,
in Spencer.

The boy told police the girl said she should have cut his eyes out after she stabbed him, according to the report.

He said he told the bus driver he was stabbed, but that the driver
told him to sit down. He said he also told a teacher, who told him to
sit down and that he would be all right, according to the report.

Educational Choice in a Nutshell

The end goal of “public education” is an educated public. There are many different means to an end. Educational choice refers to any policy that allows parents to choose the safest and best schools for their children, whether those schools are government-operated or privately operated.

In a free society, the government rightly defers to parents when it comes to raising their children. And since education is simply a subset of parenting, the government should defer to parents when it comes to educating their children. Parents, not government officials, have the moral right to determine their child’s path.

Comments Policy

The views expressed in these posts are those of the bloggers and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any institution. The goal of this blog is to create an open discussion about education reform (most notably parental choice) in Oklahoma. All feedback is welcome as long as it includes the commenter's name and doesn't violate the common rules of netiquette.